A meeting of the big four held at the official residence of Chairman of Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi at Baluwatar discussed reconsidering Karki’s nomination as head of the anti-graft body in view of mounting protests from various quarters.[break]
While NC and the UML proposed withdrawing the nomination, the Maoists and UDMF stood against the idea, arguing that the matter was already beyond their jurisdiction.
With the Maoists and UDMF stance, the NC and UML proposal is now futile as any decision in the HLPC requires unanimity.
Talking to media after the meeting, UDMF Coordinator Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar said since the nomination of Karki was made unanimously by all the parties in the HLPC and the Constitutional Council (CC) had already forwarded the nomination to the president following the Supreme Court’s final verdict in the case, there was no point debating it now. “The chairman of the Interim Election Council and the president have to settle the issue now as per existing constitutional provisions,” he said, arguing that the matter was already beyond the jurisdiction of political parties.
Earlier in the day, Chairman Regmi had reached the president’s office to brief President Ram Baran Yadav about CC recommendations for various positions in constitutional bodies. Issues like poll preparations and announcing a poll date also figured during the meeting.
Amid mounting pressure not to endorse Karki’s recommendation, President Yadav had talked personally with top leaders of various parties about the matter.
The four-party meeting at Baluwatar also dealt with finalizing the election-related ordinance as the parties have failed to agree on the percentage of seats for the proportional system, redrawing of election constituencies, the proportional system threshold and expenditure ceilings. According to Gachchhadar, Chairman Regmi is scheduled to call an all-party meeting Friday to discuss these issues.
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